It looked like a repeat of the last two tournament games for the 6th grade boys -- another game filled with careless mistakes, turnovers and no rebounding.
They trailed by only one point at halftime, but a sloppy third quarter gave the other team an eight point lead to heading into the fourth, and the 6th graders were down 18-10.
But everything they did wrong the first three quarters, they did right in the fourth, when it mattered most.
The 6th grade outscored the other team 14-4 in the final quarter, and took the lead on a Brandon Tom lay-up with less than a minute to go. Brandon Khuu and Daniel both hit free throws down the stretch that eventually iced the game, giving the 6th grade their first win of the year 24-22.
Most of the points they gave up were the same as the ones they gave up the past few games, as they were slow getting back on defense. A lot of the second or third opportunities ended up in their own basket because nobody ran back to rebound.
Their passes were also very sloppy as the guards continued to turn the ball over almost every other possession. Luckily, they cleaned up their act in the pivotal last six minutes.
In the fourth, they took care of the ball and their vaunted press brought them right back into the game. Brendan had four key points in the fourth and held his own down low, grabbing several rebounds down the stretch.
It was a much needed win for this team, even if it was only the first game of the year. After their sloppy play from last weekend, their confidence was not where it needed to be, and a game like today could really give them a boost to start the season.
Justin led all scorers with a game-high 11 points.
6th grade boys basketball beat writer Emily contributed to this report.
Willard's career-high leads 5th grade to victory
The last real meaningful shot that Willard made was two years ago at Girls All-Star Sunday when he hit the million dollar shot worth $50. He didn't get in money today, but his six points were worth just as much.
Behind Willard's career-high 6 points, the 5th grade broke open a 2-2 halftime tie with a nice 6-0 run to start the third quarter. From then on, they never looked back and ended up winning 12-6.
On a team where Raymond is the only one who dares to shoot the ball, Willard finally decided that someone else stepped up, and thankfully he did. He made two nice jumpers in the third quarter that put the 5th graders out in front and then he iced the game late in the fourth, with another nice bank shot.
This victory was great for this team since the contributions came from everybody. Grant, Thomas and Raymond all had two points to go with Willard's six -- it was an all around team effort.
Defensively, Garrick and Ryan had to deal with the other team's center who looked like he was as tall as Garrick sitting on Ryan's shoulders. The other team's gameplan was just to lob the ball to their big center, who would then score. But the 5th graders down low were physical enough and contained the other team's big guy.
The two points by Thomas also marked the first points of his CYO career. Now we wait for his twin Joseph to score his first two.
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